A fundraising dinner at the Colombo Lodge next month is hoping to raise money to help potentially resettle Ukrainians who are feeling violence in their country.

On March 16, you’ll be able to enjoy take-out pasta dinner prepared by Colombo Hall between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., at a cost of $33 for each dinner for two people. Proceeds will go towards Refugees and Friends Together (RAFT) Kamloops

Nancy Bepple, the Chair of RAFT Kamloops, tells NL News it costs about $30,000 to bring one refugee family to the Kamloops area.

“We know that the government of Canada is going to be starting to let refugees come to Canada again and we want to be ready to bring people to Kamloops to settle,” she said. “The thing that we need is to raise money. That is the biggest barrier to bringing families to Kamloops.”

“One of the biggest things that it goes towards is to help offset the cost of housing but on top of that, if they need to get furniture or if they need to get established, all of those things have to be covered. But yes, one of the biggest costs for a family to come to Kamloops is housing, for sure.”

Bepple says RAFT Kamloops has helped resettle hundreds of refugees from places like Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Columbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Liberia, and Vietnam into the Kamloops area since it was formed back in the 1970’s.

You’ll find details about the March 16 fundraiser on the Refugees And Friends Together Kamloops facebook page or on Eventbrite here.